It spoke volumes about the feel-good factor at Manchester United that when Jose Mourinho was quizzed about his signing and compatriot’s confident debut in Bern he was also keen to speak about a player he inherited.

“I want to be also nice to Luke,” Mourinho said in reference to Luke Shaw , who continued his fine start to the season. That bout of concussion has not disrupted Shaw’s rhythm on his return against Young Boys and Mourinho felt he and Diogo Dalot were ‘at the same level’. “Our danger came from both of them,” Mourinho commented. Shaw earned a fortuitous penalty in the first-half and the only linesman’s flag denied Dalot a late assist.

Dalot was born the day after Paul Scholes equalised against Internazionale at San Siro in 1999 yet looks older. He has filled out quickly and there are no hints that he will encounter the same issues Shaw has over the last couple of years with Mourinho. Even after a rush of blood where he misread a long ball and slipped, the daring Dalot passed Mourinho as he strode over to the touchline for a drink. The United manager stayed mute.

It is too premature to suggest the passing of the guard has happened at right-back but the process possibly began in Bern report the MEN . Dalot returned from a five-month knee injury on a synthetic surface his competitor Antonio Valencia was protected from.

“I think everybody could see the potential and everybody could see that he is a 19-year-old player who has more than 10 years to play for Manchester United,” Mourinho claimed. It was common practice for United to omit Valencia from midweek duty last season to preserve his durability yet he did not have a credible challenger to his position. Now he has two.

Valencia turned 33 last month and, for a modern full-back, his final third contributions are meagre. Valencia tallied one assist last season, down from six the previous campaign. He managed six during Louis van Gaal ’s two years.

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United have got a favourable return on Valencia, a £16.5m addition from Wigan in 2009. There were shades of Andrei Kanchelskis in his early years and, while his crossing can be erratic, he is rarely rinsed by forwards and used to pocket Alexis Sanchez.

Sanchez will expect to be restored to the United team against Wolves this weekend yet it is difficult to justify recalling Valencia. Ashley Young , decisive at Watford, was unfortunate to drop down to the bench in Bern and if he were not so awkward at right-back his chances of supplanting the club captain would be more auspicious. Young created six United goals last term and is arguably the best crosser in a squad lacking natural width.

United have slowly begun to address their lopsided attack through full-backs’ natural width. Shaw, once anathema to Mourinho, has been United’s standout player six games into the season. Senior club sources said last November they were still optimistic Shaw would regain the form he displayed three years ago, a surge literally broken by Hector Moreno’s brutal tackle on that numbing night in Eindhoven. The 23-year-old has done; he scored his first career goal against Leicester in August and has since played key roles in goals at Brighton, Burnley and Young Boys. Young, now Shaw’s reserve, was the architect of United’s set-piece strikes at Watford.

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The club informed Shaw’s representatives in June they were prepared to offer him a new contract and the suspicion at the time was United were protecting an asset out of contract on June 30. A new deal would now be an investment in a player who is showing the kind of form which persuaded United to pay Southampton up to £31m in 2014. Shaw is in the midst of developing into a world-class full-back.

Marcus Rashford celebrates with Luke Shaw after scoring during the UEFA Champions League Group A match between Manchester United and CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford on December 5, 2017 (Image: Getty Images Europe)

United are devoid of a specialist back-up; Young is right-footed and the brittle Marcos Rojo has not started at left-back since Nathan Redmond had him on toast in the 2017 League Cup final. Matteo Darmian is Mourinho’s ‘emergency’ option, only United were open to selling him in the summer and tried to discard Rojo. Mourinho is doing his utmost to preside over a full-back overhaul akin to Pep Guardiola ’s without chopping away any of the dead wood.

“Luke is here for a few years,” Mourinho stressed at the Stade de Suisse. “He is playing since the beginning of the season.” Shaw was maybe the sole beneficiary of United’s split transfer strategy when it was decided in early June they would not approach Juventus for Alex Sandro. Sandro is 27 and Ed Woodward’s ‘long-term’ thinking has so far been vindicated by Shaw, while Mourinho clarified on Friday he wants to ‘keep’ him.

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In a league that boasts Marcos Alonso, Benjamin Mendy, Andy Robertson and Danny Rose, Shaw is currently the highest-performing left-back. Shaw and Dalot cost a combined £46m, less than half the vault-load of cash Guardiola was given to spend on three full-backs last year. And Fabian Delph still started in the defeat to Lyon.